The Crowns of Christ
The Crowns Of Christ
The crown of thorns that Roman soldiers mockingly placed on Jesus' head during His crucifixion carries spiritual significance that extends far beyond the physical pain and humiliation it represented. This cruel act of mockery actually reveals three essential truths about who Jesus is and what He accomplished for humanity.
The first truth is found in the Crown of Suffering. The thorns connect directly to the curse pronounced in Genesis when sin entered the world, bringing thorns, thistles, and suffering into human experience. By wearing this crown, Jesus demonstrated that He fully understands our pain because He experienced every form of human suffering - rejection, torture, temptation, and death. This means we can approach Him boldly in our times of need, knowing He will not dismiss our struggles but will embrace us with grace and understanding.
The second truth emerges in the Crown of Sacrifice. Unlike the Old Testament high priests who wore golden medallions and offered animal sacrifices while needing atonement for their own sins, Jesus was the perfect high priest who became the sacrifice itself. The crown of thorns replaced the golden medallion, and Jesus bore the weight of every sin - both what has been done against us and what we have done against others. His sacrifice was complete and final, offering salvation that cannot be earned but only received.
The final truth is revealed in the Crown of Supremacy. What the soldiers intended as mockery became prophetic declaration - Jesus truly is King. The same Jesus who wore thorns now wears many crowns of absolute authority as revealed in Revelation. Every knee will bow before Him, and He reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords with power over sin, death, and every situation we face. Understanding these truths should transform our relationship with Jesus, encouraging us to trust Him completely as our suffering Savior, perfect sacrifice, and supreme King.
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The Crowns of Christ: Understanding Jesus' Ultimate Sacrifice
Easter Sunday reminds us of the most pivotal moment in human history - when Jesus Christ wore a crown of thorns and died on the cross for our sins. But what did that crown really represent? Beyond the physical pain and mockery, the crown of thorns reveals three profound truths about who Jesus is and what He accomplished for us.
What Does the Crown of Thorns Symbolize?
When Roman soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head, they intended it as cruel mockery. They were mocking His claim to be King of the Jews, creating a painful parody of imperial crowns. Roman emperors wore the "corona radiata" - a crown with spikes pointing toward the sun to symbolize divine authority. Instead, Jesus received thorns that pierced His skull, causing profuse bleeding and excruciating pain.
The soldiers also gave Him a purple robe and a reed scepter, completing their mockery. "'Hail, King of the Jews!' they mocked, as they slapped him across the face" - John 19:3 (KJV). Yet in their attempt to humiliate, God was prophesying something far greater about who Jesus truly is.
The Crown of Suffering: Jesus Understands Your Pain
Why Do We Suffer?
The thorns on Jesus' head connect directly to humanity's fall in Genesis. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, He declared: "The ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you" - Genesis 3:17-18 (KJV).
Thorns and thistles represent the reality that life includes suffering. Despite our modern comforts, we cannot escape hardship, loss, sickness, or death. When suffering comes, our first question is often "Why me?" We feel isolated and misunderstood.
Jesus Experienced Every Form of Human Suffering
The beautiful truth is that Jesus didn't remain distant from our pain. He experienced rejection, torture, temptation, and death. The crown of thorns demonstrates that our Savior knows exactly what we're going through.
"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" - Hebrews 4:15-16 (KJV).
You Can Come to Jesus in Your Suffering
When you're struggling, you can go boldly to Jesus. He won't dismiss your pain or tell you to "toughen up." Instead, He embraces you with grace and understanding. He's not an aloof God who doesn't care - He's a Savior who suffered alongside us and invites us to bring our burdens to Him.
The Crown of Sacrifice: Jesus Paid the Ultimate Price
Understanding Old Testament Sacrifice
To grasp the significance of Jesus' sacrifice, we must understand the Old Testament priesthood. The high priest would wear a golden medallion on his turban inscribed with "Holy to the Lord" - Exodus 28:36 (KJV). He would then bring animal sacrifices to the altar, representing the consequences of sin.
"And thou shalt put the holy crown upon the mitre" - Exodus 29:6 (KJV). The high priest was consecrated but imperfect, needing God's grace while offering sacrifices for the people's sins.
Jesus: Both High Priest and Sacrifice
When Jesus wore the crown of thorns, everything changed. Unlike the Old Testament priests, Jesus was perfect - He needed no sacrifice for His own sins. Yet He became both the high priest and the sacrifice simultaneously.
The crown of thorns replaced the golden medallion. Instead of "Holy to the Lord," Jesus bore the thorns of our curse. He didn't just bring a sacrifice; He became the sacrifice.
The Once-for-All Sacrifice
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" - Isaiah 53:5-6 (KJV).
Jesus took on the weight of every sin - everything done against you and everything you've done against others. His sacrifice was complete and final. You cannot earn salvation through good works or religious activities. You can only accept the sacrifice He freely gave.
The Crown of Supremacy: Jesus Reigns as King
From Mockery to Majesty
The Roman soldiers mockingly called Jesus "King of the Jews," but their words were prophetic. What they intended as humiliation became a declaration of truth. Jesus is indeed King - not just of the Jews, but of the entire universe.
The Vision of Revelation
The same John who witnessed Jesus wearing the crown of thorns later received a vision of the glorified Christ:
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns" - Revelation 19:11-12 (KJV).
Jesus now wears many crowns - diadems representing absolute authority and power that can never be removed. Every emperor who mocked Him is dead, but Jesus reigns forever.
Every Knee Will Bow
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" - Philippians 2:9-11 (KJV).
Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He conquered sin, death, and the devil. He holds the keys of death and hell. This is the God you can trust with your life.
Why This Matters for Your Life Today
Understanding the crowns of Christ should transform how you view Jesus and your relationship with Him. He's not a distant deity but a Savior who:
Understands your suffering and invites you to come to Him
Paid the complete price for your sins so you can be free
Reigns with absolute power and authority over every situation you face
Life Application
This week, make a fresh decision to put Jesus in charge of your life. Stop trying to run everything yourself and trust the King of Kings to guide your decisions, relationships, and future. When you face difficulties, remember that Jesus understands your pain and has conquered every force that could harm you.
Ask yourself these questions:
Am I trying to earn God's favor through my own efforts, or am I resting in Jesus' complete sacrifice?
When I suffer, do I turn to Jesus for comfort and strength, knowing He understands?
Have I truly surrendered control of my life to Jesus as my King, or am I still trying to be in charge?
How can I live this week in a way that reflects Jesus' lordship over my decisions and priorities?
The crown of thorns reminds us that our Savior suffered, sacrificed, and now reigns supreme. He deserves nothing less than our complete devotion and trust.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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We're gonna talk about this topic. The crowns of Christ. The crowns of Christ. And so we're gonna go into some scripture. Before we do, let's just bow our heads and let's pray as we come around his word.
Lord, we thank you Jesus for what you've done. That's why we're here, because we believe in you and we want relationship with you, Lord. And today as we come around your word to, to reflect and hopefully learn some things about the true power of what you did for us and why that's so important to our lives. I just pray it would penetrate our hearts, Lord, if we've been far from you. Draw us back, Lord God, and let us leave changed, encouraged, transformed and on fire for you.
We pray it in Jesus name. Amen. Okay, John, chapter 19, verse 1 to 3. In the Gospels we read this, it says then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead tipped whip. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head.
And they put a purple robe on him. Hail King of the Jews, they mocked as they slapped him across the face. Matthew 27 goes into a little bit more detail of this same encounter. In Matthew 27, verse 27 said some of the governor's soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.
They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. And they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. And then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted hail King of the Jews. And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. And when they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again.
And then they led him away to be crucified. It's quite a powerful symbol that we see on all the signs and all. If you've seen the crucifixion scenes, the crown of thorns that was created to place on Jesus head and, and it wasn't just placed, it was crushed onto his head. And he would have, would have caused profuse bleeding. It would have been extremely painful.
And we know why the Roman soldiers did it, don't we? We know that crowns throughout history have had symbolism to show authority. Who has the power, who's important. Where does the power lie? Where does authority lie?
This is what we've always had in our lives. We have Crowns today, if a little. If you have a birthday party for your kids, oftentimes the birthday girl or the birthday boy, they get a crown that we put on their head to signify you're the important one for the day. Sometimes we have them at Christmas and you know when you pop those things and you get these ridiculous paper crowns and I don't put them on. Except one time I was sort of mocked into putting one on.
I think my daughter's like, come on dad, put it on, put it on. And so I did put it on, but I've had experience with these. I put it on and the thing just like split in two around my head. And I went, I said, my head's too big, I've got a big head. And my wife did look at me at that time and she said, I've been telling you that for years.
Big headed people don't fit these paper crowns. We know about crowns and they have importance. And the Roman soldiers, they had a reason for why they did this. It was to do the opposite of what a crown means. Instead of a crown of importance and of value, it was a crown to mock and deride and say the opposite.
In the Roman culture, their crown, they would have a crown for the emperor, right? The corona radius radiata. And it would be this crown that would have spikes on it and it would point up to the sun, point up to the heavens. And it was supposed to signify this all powerful emperor that had authority and power and was being uplifted. And this, this crown, it had these spikes and they pointed out, but it was the opposite.
It maybe that crown was supposed to represent this crown of an emperor. Like they said, hail, king of the Jews. But instead of being there to magnify, it was there to deride. There was another crown that they would place on people, a wreath that they would make up. And in Roman culture, if you received a wreath, a crown wreath, then it was because you'd either won something in some kind of games where you'd done really well, well, or because you just conquered someone in the army, or you'd had a great moment of valor and bravery and you'd receive a wreath on your head.
And in this case, they didn't take a beautiful green wreath. What they did is they took these barbed thorns and thistles and put it on his head. And so we see this idea that the Roman soldiers were saying, you think you're something, but you're nothing. And it doesn't. Don't human beings, Aren't we good at doing that.
Sometimes we take people and the extreme cruelty that we will put on other people. And they did that to Jesus. And they didn't just do that. They put a purple robe on him, they gave him a scepter, they did other things to him. And it was all about mocking and taking him, saying, you think you're someone special, but you're a nothing, and you're less than a nothing, and we're going to kill you.
And this is the powerful moment that we come to. This is why we remember Easter, because we talk about what Jesus did for us. But I want to talk about what this crown of thorn means from a Biblical point of view, because there's a beautiful truth here, and there's something powerful who knows this, that when the enemy tries to destroy and deride and push us down and say, God's not important, we're not important, what God's doing is not important. God is so strong and so amazing that he's able to take those very things that the devil wants to use to destroy us and turn them around to prophesy what he's actually wanting to do and what he actually wants to say. And the truth about these crown of thorns is that they were speaking into who God really was, that God himself, even as Jesus was being tortured and crucified with these crown of thorns on his head, God was prophesying about who he was and what Jesus was doing and therefore why we follow him today.
And so today I want to take us through three things that we're going to go back into the Scriptures and we're going to look at what these crowns of thorns, what these crowns of Christ mean. This crown of thorns was what he wore. But there are some crowns that Jesus Christ wore when he was wearing that crown of thorns. That should tell you, this is why I follow Jesus. This is why he's changed my life.
And if you're not sure why Jesus is so important, hopefully by the end of today you'll see some of why we follow Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Is that okay today? So the first one I want to talk about, why did Jesus wear this crown? What was he doing? What was it signifying?
The first thing it was signifying, this crown is it was a crown of suffering. It was a crown of suffering. And we understand that because it hurt. We had a. They farm flowers to give to the florists.
And Gary, he's out there with rose bushes all the time. And he said to me last night, he said every day I come in and I've got about five thorns stuck into my hands that we have to pry out from all the rose bushes that I've had to deal with. And it's painful and he's tried to get used to it. That's just on his hands. Imagine having that.
These thorns, these thick thorns, thorns crushed into your skull, making you bleed. Jesus went through suffering, we understand that. But there's a biblical meaning to this suffering. There's a biblical meaning to these thorns. And we have to go right back to Genesis chapter three and what we see in Genesis chapter three.
Right at the fall of humanity, when Adam and Eve fell away from God, they made a decision to disobey God and do their own thing. And in Genesis 3:17, we read this, it says, God says to the man, he said, since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, normally it's good to listen to your wife. I should just preface it with that. But in this case, they both messed up. Fua just said, amen.
That's the right answer. That's the right answer. Fua, our wives are very wise. All right, right. But he said this because you both decided to disobey God.
The ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains by the sweat of your brow, you will have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return. There's a profound truth in that statement that we all inherently understand, but we don't like it.
And that is that life is full of suffering, that life is full of hardship. Hey, we've done a pretty good job in our modern day and age of trying to get rid of all that, all the hardship, haven't we? We can just go to the supermarket to get our food. Someone else is doing the hard yards for us, and we just pick it up, pick up the groceries. Right?
Right. We've got air conditioned houses or heated houses. We've got, you know, nice buildings to be in. We like our car seats to be, you know, nice and comfy, and you've got the lumbar support and all these wonderful things that we incorporate to try and get rid of the suffering of life. But you know, the truth of the matter is we can't, can we?
That life brings suffering. Life bring. And we see it here in Genesis 3. It signified thorns and thistles will grow and they will get you and they will hurt you and they will be a pain for you and you'll have to go through it. The problem with that is we all know that's true.
But who knows that? Whenever we go through suffering, the first question we often ask ourselves is, why me? Why me? Why did this? Why did I have to get sick?
Why did I have to get cancelled? Why did that loved one, my loved one, why did they have to pass away? Why did my marriage disintegrate? Why did this happen to me? Why did I lose my job?
And then as we mature, we come up. Oftentimes people will say, oh, but there's worse things happening in the world to other people. Other people have gone through worse. We try and explain it all, to understand it all. But this thing is, we don't like suffering, but we're stuck with it.
And it's painful, isn't it? Some of you here might be going through a time of suffering and you might be right in this room. And the problem with suffering is it isolates you. It makes you feel like you're the only one going through it and no one else understands it and no one else gets it and you're stuck with it. The beauty of Jesus Christ wearing the crown of suffering is this.
He's gone through it too. And this is something we are supposed to understand and we need to understand about Jesus Christ. He's not some high and mighty figure that just sits aloof from our understanding. Do you know that there are understandings of God where people understand God as having created the world and then just removed himself from it? And it's a form of deism, they say, where it's like God, yes, God created everything, but now he doesn't give a rip about any of it.
He doesn't care. He doesn't care. It's like, whatever happens to you, I'm not worried. And people think that about God, don't they? They think God doesn't care because he let this happen to me.
Let this happen to me. The truth of the matter is Jesus Christ is supposed to reveal to us that God not only cares about your suffering, but he came and suffered himself with us. That he knows the suffering of everything we go through because he faced it. He faced rejection, he faced torture, he faced death, he faced temptation. All of the things that we go through, the suffering of this life, Jesus Christ faced with it.
And he understands what you're going through. And that should draw us to Him. And that's why there's this beautiful scripture, a beautiful scripture that we have in Hebrews 4, verse 15. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. We're going to go back to Jesus as a high priest.
It means he represents us. He represents everyone before God. Right? We do not. And it's.
And Jesus is our high priest. He can. Who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. But he was, on all points, tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
What a beautiful thought about Jesus that you. When you're going through a hard time, you can go to God. Do you go to Jesus? Do you go to the Lord when you're struggling, when you're suffering, and say, lord, thank you that you do understand me. You know, I remember going through times of suffering in my own.
When I felt like I couldn't share what I was going. No one else fully understood. I didn't feel they understood what I was going through. I didn't want to put it on people. And I remember going to pray, and I was able to say, thank you, Lord, that you understand what it feels like to suffer.
I said. I remember saying, lord, I feel a bit closer to you, because I said, you suffered far more than I am, but you get it. And I could go to him, and I could talk to him about it, you know, you can talk to God. That's what it says here. Let us go boldly before his throne, because his grace, he's not going to push you away.
He's not going to say, oh, you little crybaby. You know, I remember my daughter. One time, we were walking down the beach, and we were walking bare feet. Don't know if that was the wisest thing, but we were. And she got a little prickle.
She got a little prickle in her foot. And Ella, like, let us know about it. Who's here. So, you know, you let people know if you're in a bit of pain, the world knows about it. Well, Ella was like that.
She's got a little prickle, and she's like, I can't walk. I can't do it. And we had to sort of carry her home, and it was like, you need this foot amputated. And then. And then Narelle had to go out because I'm too scared to get, like, try and get it out myself.
It's. So Narelle went and got the tweezers oh, she got the tweezers, and we're trying to get the tweezers out. Ella's like, no, don't, don't. And I'm going, stop being such a crybaby. Stop being there.
Come on, Ella. You know, show a bit of guts. Come on. And that was my encouragement. And then I had a revelation.
I think Narelle looked at me and she goes, you're probably worse. If you got a prickle, you'd be even worse than this. I was like, yeah, probably right. So I left them to it, and Narelle fixed it all, and it was all nice. You know what's awesome about gold?
God, if we get prickle, if we're suffering, usually he doesn't tell you, stop being a crybaby. You go to him and go, it's not fair. It's not fair. He doesn't go tell someone who cares. You know what he does?
He comes around like a beautiful loving, oftentimes overzealous. Mum boy goes, ah, you'll sort it out. But our mums come around us and go, let me give you a hug. Come on. Let me.
That's how God treats us. He goes, hey, come on. Come on. I love you. Even if we are overreacting, even if we are.
Even if it is too much, even if we're not being mature about it, you know what he does? He comes and embraces you. How many times has God embraced me when I've been over overboard and I'm complaining about something I shouldn't? He still comes around me and says, come to me. I've got grace for you.
You can get through this. Do you know that Jesus? Do you know that Jesus who. When you go through suffering, we can come to him boldly when we're being tempted, when we feel like we've failed, come to him and he will give you grace, Grace from his throne, because he understands it, because he wore the crown of suffering. The second crown that this represents of the crown of thorns is the crown of sacrifice.
He understands a crown of suffering, but it was a crown of sacrifice. And to understand this a bit deeper, we need to understand some of the Old Testament understanding of sacrifice, which people who were reading the gospels in Matthew and John, they were Jewish people, and they knew these. They knew the history. And so if you go back thousands of years, the Jewish people would have a high priest. They had a high priest that would represent the people before God.
And back in those days, what they would do is they would present animal sacrifices and they would come into they would have an altar and they would. The high priest and other priests would come and bring an animal and they would slaughter the animal on the altar killer. And the blood would seep out. And the high priest was representing the people, all of the Israelite people to God. And they would come to God and then they would bring these sacrifices on behalf of themselves and the people and say, God, we know there needs to be.
We know that we've got sin, we know that we've got. Got that we don't measure up. Michael was talking about it on Friday, that we don't live up to the standards of holiness and love and beauty, that all of us have been hurt by sin, but all of us have perpetrated lacking love. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God. The Bible says.
And this idea was to accept that and say that no one, no person can pay the price. But they would sacrifice an animal to represent that there are consequences to sin, there is punishment for sin. And so the high priest would come with this animal. But what the high priest would do before they came, they would dress up. And one of the parts they would dress up, they would put this crown on.
They would put this headpiece on. The Bible calls it a turban. And on this headpiece they would put a gold sign. They called it a medallion. And so the turban would have a be placed on the head and then they will put a sign across.
And it said, holy to the Lord, Lord. And the high priest had put that on and. And it said, this represents you'll be consecrated when you go in, that you're going in, and I'll protect you. I'll see you as holy that you are holy to the Lord as you bring the animal sacrifice. That represents the need for consequence and a punishment.
And someone is going to end up hurt because of the power of, and destruction of sin. And so the high priest would dress up with holy to the Lord as a crown, the Bible calls it, and bring the animal sacrifice. We see it in Exodus 28. It says, Make a medallion of pure gold and engrave it like a seal with these words, holy to the Lord. Attach the medallion with a blue cord to the front of Aaron's turban where it must remain.
Aaron must wear it on his forehead so he may take on himself any guilt of the people of Israel when they consecrate their sacred offerings. He must always wear it on his forehead so the Lord will accept the people. In Exodus 29, it says, you shall put the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. It was another crown saying, you're holy to the Lord. You're consecrated, but the sacrifice must be.
So you've got to picture this. The high priest would come with other priests and his sin is consecrated. You're not perfect either. The high priest has sinned as well. But I'll consecrate you because you're bringing an animal sacrifice to the altar.
And it was a representation of the consequence of sin. Sin causes death, sin causes pain. You fast forward a thousand years and we get to another high priest, Jesus Christ, and he's wearing another crown, but this time inverted. See, this time he's not wearing a gold medallion saying, holy to the Lord. This time, the one wearing the crown, the high priest is the sacrifice.
And this is the powerful. These are the powerful pictures that God gives us through the Old Testament. They were pictures and shadows of what was to come. And this is the amazing thing. The high priest in the Old Testament was not perfect.
They needed God to look past their sin. And he said, bring the animal sacrifice because that represents the need for a consequence to sin. But this time when Jesus came, he was perfect. He didn't need to give his life. He was the only human being in all of human history that could walk into the holy of holies on his own merit and say, I am worthy to come into this place.
And yet he is the one who took on the punishment and the pain and the consequence of sin, not just for a couple of people, but for all people from all time. Do we understand that? That the high priest bringing the animal sacrifice, when Jesus wore the crown, he became the high priest and the sacrifice in one. That's why it's called a crown of sacrifice. Because it was understood between him, between God and now by all of us that Jesus Christ was the once for all sacrifice to destroy the power and consequence of sin and death once for all time.
You couldn't bring. Do you know that you try and bring sacrifices to God to try and sometimes we try and do it ourselves. Have you ever heard people say, are you going to get to heaven? Well, I hope I've lived a good life. I hope I've done some good things.
You know what they're saying? I hope the sacrifices I've brought way up strong enough that God will let me in and say, that's good enough. Sometimes as Christians, we try and bring a sacrifice not out of love and adoration, but out of trying to measure up to God. I've come to church. I went to church at Easter, I went to church at Christmas and I went a few other times as well.
Hopefully that measures I gave in the offering. Is that going to measure up? I've tried to say and do the right things. I failed a few times. Here's the reality.
All of your sacrifices do not do anything to measure up. The consequence of sin is still there. None of us can fix it except the Holy One. Except the one who was perfect, the one who was pure. And he's the one who took the crown.
And he said, I will take on the suffering of every human being. I will take on. I will be the sacrifice for every single one of every sin. Everything that's ever been done against you, everything you've ever done against anyone else. He said, I will be the sacrifice and I will destroy the power of sin and death once for all time.
And when you become a Christian, do you know what you're doing? You're accepting that sacrifice. That's all you're doing. You're not working for it. You're not trying to measure up to it.
You're not saying, let me be worth it. You're saying, God, I freely accept the sacrifice you gave to pay the price for the consequences, sin and death. Thank you, Jesus. You are the one who took on the crown of sacrifice once for all time. That's why it says in this beautiful scripture.
Isaiah 53, verse 4. It's a prophecy. It was a prophecy written about Christ says. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried. It was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God. A punishment for his own sins. But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him, him the sins of us all. What a savior. Have you truly thought recently about what Jesus carried for you?
That he took on the weight of sin and death and conquered it so you could be free. So you could be set free and say, God no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me. He's set me free of all. When you stuff up, when you fail, when someone fails you. Thank you, Jesus, that you paid the price.
So we could be set free of sin and death. And I know we still see it in this world. I know we're still being sanctified. But one day we're going to see the full result. Of it and we are truly set free.
The sacrifice that he paid, the crown of sacrifices paid the way for all of us. I was thinking about this and it's hard to sort of. There's no greater example than what Christ has done for us. But I was thinking about kids that have gotten into trouble in, you know when they go swimming and they get into trouble in the ocean and it's like they're kids and they don't, they can't get out of a rip or whatever it is. Well, in November 25th there was a lot of stories of this.
But in November 25th there was a case of this. I think it happened in Hawaii. A man named Jeffrey Diaz. Jeffrey Diaz is a 47 year old US army guy and he was strong and he was a dad of two boys and they went swimming and they got caught in a rip. And what's fascinating to me about these stories is that the father, 47 year old man, he's strong, he's safe, he doesn't need any help, he's good.
But his two boys, they're weak, they're struggling, they can't save themselves. And so what does he do? He swims out and he gets a hold, he gets one of his sons and he gets him back to shore and then he gets his other son and as he's swimming back to shore with, I think with his son on his back, he realized that he doesn't have the strength physically to get him all the way back himself. And he's struggling, he's going under the rips, pulling him back out and he grabs a hold of his little nine year old boy and he looks at him and he tells him, before he sends him on his way, he says these words to his, he says, I want you to go. He says, I want you to swim.
Don't stop, you got this. Don't give up, I love you. And he pushes him back towards the beach and his son gets to the shore because his dad had taken him most of the way. But Jeffrey was succumbed and he didn't have any strength left to push against the rip. And he got brought out and they, they found him.
But he passed away by the time they got him. And I thought about that story, that man, Jeffrey, we look at him and we go, what a hero. He gave his life to save his sons. You know, when I see a story like that, I see a father who goes out and says, I was strong, but I gave up my strength so I could save those who couldn't save themselves. His sons are alive today because he gave up his strength.
He didn't need to. He was strong. He was good. He was okay by himself. And this is what Christ did for us.
He was good. Do you understand that? Christ was strong. He didn't need to go to Jerusalem. He didn't need to get caught.
He didn't need to get crucified. He was good. He could have called angels down at any time. He could have walked away. He was all powerful.
He could have gotten out of it, but he chose. He said, you know what, my brothers and sisters? You, Adrian, they can't do it. They can't get to shore. They can't get back to me.
They can't save themselves. Someone's got to go and give up their strength. And that's what he did. He took the crown of sacrifice and said, I'll give up my strength so you can be whole, so you can live. And isn't that what he does to us?
He looks at us and he says as he's on the cross, he's like, come. Come on. You got this. I'm doing this for you. Don't give up.
I love you. Isn't that the message of the gospel? I love you for God so loved the world, For God so loved Adrian, for God so loved Amelia, for God so loved you that he gave his only son, that whosoever, whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life, will be given everything. The joy, the life will conquer sin and death. That's why we need Christ.
Have you embraced that truth in your life? Do you continually embrace that truth? Because when you do, there should be a thankfulness that rises in your heart, says, thank you, Jesus. You understand my suffering. Thank you, Jesus.
You understand what I needed, and you sacrificed for me. But it doesn't stop there, does it? The beauty of the gospel is that Jesus Christ comes to us and he doesn't just stay on the cross. He doesn't stay in death. The third crown that we want to talk about and we want to finish with, yes, he took the crown of suffering.
Yes, he took the crown of sacrifice. But the third crown, crown that we must end on is the crown of supremacy.
This, my brothers and sisters, takes us full circle. The very crown of thorns. They tried to decimate him with the very crown. And the words they said, saying, oh, you said you're the king of the Jews as a mockery. You know what?
Once again the devil tries to destroy. But what the devil has used for evil, God will use for good. You can put A crown of thorns on my Savior's head. You can call him a King of the Jews as a mockery, but he is the King of everything. He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings.
And there is a crown that has been placed on his head that will never, ever be removed. And we see that crown in the Book of Revelation, don't we? If you go all the way to Revelation, chapter 19. The same John who talked about the crown of thorns on Jesus head is the same John years later on the island of Patmos, wrote the book of Revelation. The same John that saw the suffering Savior die on the cross is the same John that saw this vision.
This vision. We're going to read it together.
In Revelation 19, we see a different type of crown. It's called the diadem. The diadem crown was a crown given to someone with all authority and all power and all magnificence and all strength, and nothing can get in their way. It was a crown of power and strength that cannot be removed from them. The Romans can give whatever crowns they want, but they will die.
Every emperor is dead. Every person who won a war for them is gone and lost a war later on. But we have a king who's wearing a crown and many crowns that will never be removed. Come on. Come with me to Revelation, chapter 19.
This is the Jesus we're talking about about. This is the one who wore the crown of thorns. Revelation 19, verse 11. Then I saw heaven opened and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named faithful and true, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.
His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The Word was in the beginning, and the Word came and dwelt among us. And the Word is at the end.
The Word is the Lord Jesus Christ. His title, the Word of God. The armies of Heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod.
He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a wine. And on his robe, at his thigh was written this title. King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords is wearing many crowns because he is the King of all Kings. You know, wherever you go in the universe, doesn't matter how far you travel, we can't even get to the end. The universe keeps Expanding, we can't even get.
But Jesus is Lord. Right to the furthest depths of the furthest reach of the universe. He's Lord of all of it, the physicists. I love physics and I love studying science and going right back to the beginning and all these things, and it's fascinating and it's amazing. And you know what I think when I study all of that?
You're studying how God made everything. You're studying. You know God's in every bit of it. He was right back at the beginning. He'll be right at the end.
He is Lord of all Christians. You gotta understand. The same Jesus who suffered on the cross is the same Jesus who is the word of God. Jesus, who is the King of kings, the Lord of Lords, the King of the universe. He is all powerful, almighty.
That's the God you serve. Do you believe that? If you understand that, you will go, why would I not give him my life? He doesn't need your sacrifice because he sacrificed himself for you. He doesn't need your good works.
He doesn't need any of it. Do you know what he wants? He wants you to say yes. He wants you to say yes. Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you for suffering with me and for me and understanding me. Thank you for being my high priest I can come to whenever I need. Thank you for being my sacrifice that paid the way when I couldn't pay the way. Thank you, Jesus, and thank you for being King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And you know what?
Your only response, my only responsibility response can be, lord, you don't demand anything of me, except what you want is my love. You want me to love you. You want me to love you. What does it mean to love the Lord? Love the Lord, not give him a little bit of love.
That you choose to love the Lord your God with all your heart. To say, lord, be my Lord. There's only one response. When you have a revelation of the crowns of Christ. Suffering, suffering, sacrifice.
Supremacy is to say, lord, here's my life. Is God directing your life? Have you had a revelation that he cares? I mean, why wouldn't you? He cares more about you than anyone else.
He knows exactly what you need when you need it. He gave his life to save you, to give you his grace and love, to bring you back to the Father. And he's King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's conquered sin and death. Don't we know this?
He didn't stay on the cross. He didn't stay in the grave. The Bible says he went down into the depths and he took the keys of Hades and he rose up again in victory. Because when you're the Son of God and the King of kings and the Lord of lords, death can't beat you. The devil can't beat you.
The Roman soldiers can't beat you. Sickness can't beat you. Nothing can beat you. He rose up with a crown of supremacy, and that's why I love this scripture. In Philippians 2, Philippians 2, verse 9, we see this Hebrew.
He went, he gave his life. He suffered on the cross. Therefore God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Is that the God you serve, brothers and sisters?
The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. Every knee shall bow before him one day. Everyone. This is the beauty of being a human being. He gives you a choice about when that is.
Why would you want to live a moment of your life longer with you in charge when there is a king who has done all that for. For you and says, I'm right here, and I will guide your life. I will save your life. I will direct it for you, your children and all the generations to come. Trust me.
Put me in charge and you watch what I do through your life. Why don't you have a fresh revelation today? Why don't you make a fresh decision today to say Jesus, if that's true, if that's what you've revealed to me, me, then God, here I am. Will you take charge of my life? Will you be the Lord of my life?
Stop running your own life. Come on, you got a lot of decisions to make when you run your own life. You know what I've discovered? It's a lot easier when I put Jesus Christ in charge and I say, lord, what would you have me do? Will you direct my path?
Will you give me your guidance and your wisdom? And you know what he says to me all the time? He said, I. I would love to. Not to control me, but to set me free, to guide me and support me. I go, thank you, Lord, for your grace.
Thank you, Lord, for your power. Thank you, Lord, for who you are in my life. So this is what we're going to do. In a couple of seconds, we're going to sing. Or a few more than a couple seconds, we're going to sing this song.
Hallelujah. And I want you to declare it we're going to stand to our feet and we're going to declare and say, lord Jesus, you are Lord. You're the one who conquered sin and death. Thank you that you suffered, thank you that you sacrificed. Thank you, Lord God, that you have been high and lifted up.
And I put you on the throne of my life. And I declare God, I receive all of that. And I declare you as Lord and King of Kings in my life. We're going to declare it together. And maybe you are someone who's been going through suffering, maybe you felt like it's unfair.
Come to the Lord this morning and say, thank you, Jesus. You do understand I can turn to you and he understands your need when no one else does. Before we do that, we're going to have a moment. Because maybe you say, I've been far away from God and I haven't been living for him. Maybe you've never given your life to Jesus, but you say, you know what?
I think it's time. I think it's time that I gave my life to this Jesus that I keep that keeps drawing me in. And I think I believe in him and I think I want him to be my Lord and Savior. And I think I want to be changed. I want to have that experience where it's as easy as saying, lord, here's my life.
Because he's been waiting for you. He's drawing you. And so we're going to bow our heads and close our eyes and we're going to say this prayer together. We're going to all say it together. But I want you to respond if you say, lord, this is a prayer.
Maybe you've been far from God or you've never said it. What a day to do it on Easter Sunday. It's between you and God right now. We're gonna say it together. Let's pray.
Dear Lord Jesus, I believe in you. I believe you're the Son of God and you died on the cross for my sin. You rose again from the dead. So forgive me Jesus. Be my Lord and Saviour.
I will follow you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. Come on, why don't we give those people said that a hand today at the end of the service by the bookshop.
We've got a Bible we want to give you. Can I please encourage you? Go and get a Bible. It's going to help you in your walk with God. We want to help you join up for the Alpha course because your life will be transformed as you follow this pathway with God.
And you watch what he's going to do in your life this year for the rest of us. Come on. Why don't we stand to our feet? Who's ready to worship God for the last couple of minutes with me, the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. He saved me.
He redeemed me. He's my Lord. Is he yours on today? Thank you, Jesus.
Hallelujah. Raise the one who can be free and I. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the one who tell me free.
And may I never forget in anything except the cross of Jesus Christ.
May I not forget the blood it is by his death. I am alive because of the light. I am alive because of light. I am alive because of light. I am alive because I'm right.
What a beautiful time celebrating who our God is. Hey. And Easter Sunday. We would love for you to join us in the foyer, but we're going to continue to pray, so you're welcome to hang with us here, too.
Hallelujah. You get all the praise we say alleluia. You get all the praise always.
I came to praise.
I came to praise Never get out of my way.
I get to praise.
You get all the praise we say alleluia. You get all the praise always.
You get all the praise all hallelujah. You get all the praise always.
Sa.
Related Bible Verses
John 19:1-3 [NLT]
"Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead tipped whip. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head. And they put a purple robe on him. Hail King of the Jews, they mocked as they slapped him across the face."
Click here to read John 19:1-3 on Bible.com
Matthew 27:27-31 [NLT]
"Some of the governor's soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. And they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. And then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted hail King of the Jews. And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. And when they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. And then they led him away to be crucified."
Click here to read Matthew 27:27-31 on Bible.com
Genesis 3:17-19 [NLT]
"The ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains by the sweat of your brow, you will have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return."
Click here to read Genesis 3:17-19 on Bible.com
Hebrews 4:15-16 [NKJV]
"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. But he was, on all points, tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Click here to read Hebrews 4:15-16 on Bible.com
Exodus 28:36-38 [NLT]
"Make a medallion of pure gold and engrave it like a seal with these words, holy to the Lord. Attach the medallion with a blue cord to the front of Aaron's turban where it must remain. Aaron must wear it on his forehead so he may take on himself any guilt of the people of Israel when they consecrate their sacred offerings. He must always wear it on his forehead so the Lord will accept the people."
Click here to read Exodus 28:36-38 on Bible.com
Exodus 29:6 [NKJV]
"You shall put the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban."
Click here to read Exodus 29:6 on Bible.com
Isaiah 53:4-6 [NLT]
"Yet it was our weaknesses he carried. It was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God. A punishment for his own sins. But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him, him the sins of us all."
Click here to read Isaiah 53:4-6 on Bible.com
Revelation 19:11-16 [NLT]
"Then I saw heaven opened and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named faithful and true, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God... And on his robe, at his thigh was written this title. King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords."
Click here to read Revelation 19:11-16 on Bible.com
Philippians 2:9-11 [NLT]
"Therefore God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."